Rafferty is proposing a $2.5 billion plan that is both more ambitious and more expensive than the proposal Gov. Tom Corbett advanced in January. The increase is nearly 50 percent of the $5.3 billion that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation currently spends on highways, bridges and transit.

But it is on target.

Pennsylvania has more structurally deficient bridges — nearly 4,400 — than any other state in the nation, and 23 percent of its 44,000 miles of state-owned roads are in poor condition, according to Rafferty. He said his plan follows the major recommendations made by the Governor’s Transportation Funding Advisory Commission.

The proposal has the support of business groups, engineering firms, highway construction companies and labor unions. Key Senate Democrats support it, as well. However, it could face a fight in the more conservative House of Representatives.

Motorists, the same ones who complain about the dire state of roads and bridges, will not be happy with increases in fees and gas taxes.

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Opposition is understandable, we know, in a state where many drivers are living on fixed incomes or are struggling to make ends meet. Paying another 25-cents a gallon at the pump can make a dramatic difference in a family’s budget with more than one person driving long commutes to school or work.

That pain is a necessary hardship, however, to address the difficult and dangerous conditions of Pennsylvania’s roads and bridges.

Rafferty’s plan also addresses positive alternatives to cars and trucks, proposing $510 million a year for urban and rural mass-transit improvements and $115 million a year for railways, airports, ports and bicycle and pedestrian lanes and walkways.

“Pennsylvania is at a crossroads and we must take action now,” Rafferty said in unveiling the plan he calls “The Bridge to Pennsylvania’s Future.”

“Our roads and bridges continue to crumble, our mass transit systems lack the funds needed to meet continued demand, and our railways, airports and ports struggle to be economic generators for the 21st century. We simply cannot continue to ignore these pressing needs, which are directly related to public safety and economic development,” Rafferty said.

Fixing Pennsylvania’s roads and bridges and improving our overall infrastructure comes at a cost, to be sure. It’s a necessary cost, and we commend Sen. Rafferty for standing up to propose improvements.